With 1:48 to play on Saturday night against the Packers, the Bears had a first and 10 on the Green Bay 25. There was no reason to try to score a touchdown on the next play. Which made it the ideal time to go to the end zone on the next play.
Coach Ben Johnson called a fake screen, with three receivers lined up to the left. Quarterback Caleb Williams pumped toward receiver Luther Burden III. Receiver DJ Moore slipped behind a defensive back who bit on fake. And Williams found Moore for the game-winning touchdown.
“It’s perfect call,” Williams told reporters after the win. “We ended up throwing a screen earlier in the game. And so it sets it up, you know, to the same side. And then, being able to have that play call that we worked for, I think, the past three or four weeks and, you know, just didn’t use it in those other games and then in the right moment, at the right time, Coach calls it, just as he does. And the guys did a great job selling it. Obviously, DJ made a great catch, just put the ball out there for him to go out there, make a catch for us, and go win a game.”
Williams knew the play was going to work, based on what he saw before the snap.
“Yeah, once we lined up, actually knew that we were about to hit it, just off the demeanor of the guys on the other side of the ball, just had a feeling that that was going to be the one,” Williams said. “And like I said, the guys did a great job. O-line did a great job blocking. The guys did a great job over there selling the fake and then and then obviously DJ going up the sideline.”
By calling the play with that much time left, Johnson also showed plenty of faith in the defense to keep the Packers out of the end zone. And while it got a little too close for comfort, it worked. The Bears kept the Packers from scoring, and the fake screen touchdown ended up being the difference in the most compelling postseason game in Chicago Bears history.
